A Light in the Dark
by littlelightning
Summary: Lena Banks has never been one to be scared of her own shadow, but due to a recent turn in events, she has never been more frightened in her entire life. Darkness has taken her world and now she is fighting hard to get it back with the help of a new friend, Riku. RikuXOC


Hello everyone! So I have been a HUGE fan of kingdom hearts ever since I was a little girl. I love absolutely everything about it: the characters, the worlds, the plot, the music, etc. And I was so inspired by the series that I decided to write a fanfic for it. I hope that everyone likes the first chapter, but considering it's my first fanfic I've ever written, I hope that everyone will feel kind enough to give me some feedback! Anyways, hope you enjoy reading it! Xx

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, only my OCs. Lena, Genevieve, Elise, James, and Lucas.

Muse / Apocalypse Please

Declare this an emergency  
Come on and spread a sense of urgency  
And pull us through  
And pull us through  
And this is the end  
This is the end of the world

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

_What's going on?_

_What kind of dream is this?_

_Why does everything feel so… _real_?_

"Lena Banks, if I have to yell up to you one more time to wake up, I will refuse to make you your morning cup of hot chocolate."

"No," Lena grumbled, pulling the warm covers closer to her body. She was too tired to have this conversation, and it being a Monday morning made it all particularly worse. The process of getting up for school had always been a hard one for Lena as she had never been much of a "morning person". But her father certainly knew her weakness… _chocolate_. And just like every morning before, she would have torn thoughts about whether to stay in bed or to go eat a delicious breakfast while it was hot. And so the debate began. Lena reflected on how she always started her winter mornings with a hot mug of delightfully delicious liquid chocolate, but then again, her bed was so warm and cozy, and who wanted to go to school anyway? Not Lena, that was for sure. The hot chocolate could wait. She gave a relaxed sigh and snuggled deeper into her pillows.

"Lena!" She heard her father calling once more from the kitchen, "Stop being a lazy sleep zombie and come and get your breakfast, it's getting cold!"

"Ugh, " She groaned, but the temptation of food going to waste finally wakened her from her school skipping delusions. Her parents would never allow her to miss school just so she could sleep all day.

Reluctantly, Lena removed her bed covers and made her way to the bathroom to freshen up for the day. She tended to not to do much in terms for primping, so getting ready for school was always a fast and easy process. The only complicated task would be to brush out her knotted hair, which always seemed to be in disarray.

"Lena!" She heard her father call again, but luckily, she was already bounding down the stairs, ready for the day. "I'm up, I'm up!"

"Well, it's about time. You're later than usual." He noted with concerned eyes. Lena gave him a reassuring smile in response, "Just a little a bit more tired than usual, but that can be fixed with my favorite warm, delectable, and most well-prepared cup of hot chocolate."

He laughed, "Of course, it's a commonly known fact that chocolate solves all the world's problems."

"Exactly." Lena agreed with a nod, settling herself down at the kitchen table. Her father had always made her breakfast. And since he had once worked as a professional chef, it was always absolutely mouthwatering. But in Lena's opinion, his hot chocolate blew everything else he made out of the water.

"So, your mother is going to be late coming home from work, and I'm meeting up with some buddies this afternoon. Make sure you turn on the porch lights and lock up the house when you get home from school. Mom and I have our keys, and we'll leave you some money for dinner. You can have pizza or something, is that okay?"

Lena nodded as she munched through her pancakes. "Sounds good." Her dad picked up her plate when she was finished and set down a travel mug of her favorite drink in its place. "Drive safe." He said with a smile, "Have a good day."

Lena thanked him after breathing in a quick whiff from the hot cup of amazingness, and grabbed the keys to her car. Before going out the garage door, she yelled a quick goodbye up the stairs to her mom. When she heard a faint grunting noise that confirmed that her mother had indeed heard her goodbye, Lena walked outside and shut the door tight behind her.

But as soon as she walked outside, she felt strange. Her jacket seemed to be too warm, and even her hand was sweating from the heat of the mug in her grasp. Goodness gracious, it was December and it felt like it was September. After pushing aside further thoughts about the strange weather, Lena quickly shrugged out of her heavy winter coat and took a seat inside her car.

On her way to school, she rolled her windows down in an effort to cool herself off, but the action seemed to be of little help. Lena let out a groan in annoyance. She always loved winter's seasonal chill, but now this random heat wave was ruining all of that. Today just wasn't going to be a good day. She could feel it in her bones... and her sweaty armpits.

After she pulled into her parking spot in the back lot of her school, a senior privilege she was happy to hold, she grabbed her backpack and made her way to her first class.

The school year so far had been a little disappointing to say the very least. Lena's two best friends had only one class where they could all be together this year, and it was only for the last few months of school. And because they were all seniors, it would be their last class together _ever_. They had all tried to get their lunches lined up, but because of all of their different interests and electives, they hadn't been able to swing it. Thus making Lena's senior year a disaster. But because she always tried to look on the bright side of things, she realized that not having as much homework as last year was certainly a nice perk of being a senior.

The school hallways were bustling as always, and the renewed heat surge had easily been a factor in everyone's cheery mood. Which was a miracle considering it was a Monday.

The school day went by quickly, much to Lena's satisfaction. And she soon found herself walking along with her two friends to their cars after classes had ended. "Why is it so gosh darn hot outside?" Lena complained.

"And you're upset about it?" Genevieve laughed, "Well, I guess we should have expected this reaction, considering your obsession with the Christmas season and all."

"Don't you dare mock me, Eve," Lena teased, pointing an accusing finger at her friend, "just because you're from Florida and all doesn't mean you can-"

"Can do what, exactly?" Elise interrupted.

Lena's eyebrows drew together in confusion, "I don't know actually."

Elise snorted, "Typical."

"Hey, don't make fun." Lena warned, but Elise waved her hand, laughing it off. They all knew that Lena didn't take her friend's teasing to heart anyways. And Lena was aware that Elise was in the right, Lena was after all typically known for speaking before thinking her thoughts all the way through. It was something she was trying to work on.

"Moving on from Lena's little moment," Lena stuck out her tongue in response to Genevieve's change in subject, "Did you guys hear what happened to poor little Lucas today?"

"Lucas who?" Elise asked.

"Endler. He had gone to the bathroom because he wasn't feeling good-"

"No wonder, it's freaking hot outside!"

Her friends gave Lena a pointed look, but she could tell that they were holding back smiles. She was the amusing one in their relationship after all.

"Yes, that might be why he's sick, but anyways, that's not all that happened."

"Do tell." Elise encouraged with a giggle.

Lena let out a smirk; her friends had always been suckers for gossip.

"Well, he was gone from class for a while so James- _James Beckett_- volunteered to check up on him."

"James is such a gentleman, why can't more guys be like that?" Elise whined.

Genevieve and Lena caught each other's eye and held back a laugh. Elise had been crushing on James since middle school. She had been practically in love with this boy for as long as Lena had known her, and far before Genevieve had moved up here from the south. The two girls had teased their friend mercilessly about her love for him, despite the fact that Elise had never even spoken to the boy in her life.

"Yes, we all know what you think of him, Elise." Lena said with a wink, causing Elise to glance down at her feet, trying to use her long ginger locks to hide the red blush on her cheeks.

"Yes, so James checked up on Lucas and found him rolled up on the ground of the bathroom. And get this," Genevieve leaned in towards her friends, "he said that he had seen some kind of monster."

Elise and Lena both laughed out loud at her earnest and passionate expression. Genevieve had always gotten really into her stories when she told them to her friends. "And how do we even know that this story is credible. I mean, a_ monster_?" Lena said after she regained normal breathing.

Genevieve crossed her arms over her chest, "Because I heard it directly from James' mouth, that's why."

Elise stopped walking and narrowed her eyes accusingly at Genevieve, "You actually _spoke_ with him?"

Lena and Genevieve had paused only after hearing Elise speak; they hadn't even heard her stop. Lena gave a nervous glance toward her friend, but Genevieve was already taking control of the situation. She held her hands up, in a careful gesture of nonaggression, and calmly reassured Elise that James had been speaking to the teacher and that she had overheard.

They both relaxed when Elise visibly let her tensed shoulders droop from relief. When Elise got riled up, she was hard to contain or calm down, so these small victories were welcome to the less wound-up Lena and Eve.

When Elise caught up to them on the path to the back parking lot, they resumed their original topic of conversation. "So, what happened to Lucas?" Elise questioned.

Genevieve shrugged her shoulders, "I heard he was taken to the nurse, but that was all I could find out. Nobody else seemed to know anything about what had happened."

"Strange." Elise muttered, kicking a small stone in front of her on the path. Lena watched as it bounced from the pavement and into the grass. The snow that had been there the previous day had all melted, leaving soggy pools of brown mud. The sun's abnormal warmth was causing beads of sweat to form on the back of Lena's neck and she resorted to piling her messy golden hair into a ponytail on the top of her head. Lena added, "Just like this weather."

Once they finally made it to the parking lot, they said their goodbyes and headed for their respective cars. Genevieve was heading to a drawing class, and Elise was off to the local gym. Lena however, decided that it was time she visited the public library. Because of her recent lack of homework, she had been spending her leisure time reading. She was satisfied to notice that the reading list she had created and built upon for the past few years was actually near to completion. And she was in desperate need for some new material.

After pulling out of school grounds, she made her way to the old, rustic library that was located in the center of town. Some acquaintances Lena knew from school worked there, and gave her a small wave when she entered. They must have bolted from school fast in order to get here on time, Lena reflected. But then again, Lena did drive a lot slower than the normal teenager, and she always tended to talk with Eve and Elise for a long time before they actually left the school grounds, which was probably a good explanation as to why they were already here.

After giving a quick wave back to her friends, she made her way to the teen section. Lena's favorite types of books were adventures, and even as a child, she had always had a big imagination. She used to pretend to sword fight with her dad, and play games with her friends where they would each complete a brave quest. Those days were full of mystical dragons, daring princesses, and magic crowns that would award a person a long and healthy life. Sadly, as she grew older, the only excitement or adventure she could find was through these books. She felt happy when she could escape through them.

As she picked up a new installment to a series she was currently working on, she noticed that her arms had broken out into goose bumps. She used her free hand to rub her other arm in an effort to warm herself up from the room's slight chill. And despite the cold, Lena smiled to herself. This was definitely more like it.

Lena had always preferred to be colder than warmer. It was common sense after all. Genevieve had never understood Lena's argument that it was easier to get warmer than it was to get cooler, but coming from a girl that previously lived in Florida, it was understandable. But Elise just disagreed with Lena for the sake of disagreeing. Which was a thing she did often to get a rise out of Lena, just for kicks. It was one of the many reasons that Lena secretly liked about her friends. They were each so different, yet they all clicked and enjoyed each other's company. The friendship they shared went deep, and Lena could definitely see them all still being friends as they went through college and as they got older.

Lena sat down in her favorite spot of the reading section of the library, sinking into her favorite chair. She had made it a habit of sitting in the back corner, near a wide window that overlooked the town's river. Today the sun was warm and glittering on the river's wavy current. It was absolutely beautiful. She would miss her afternoons at the library when she left for school next year. She was thankful that nobody would come up to her and interrupt her reading time. It was necessary for Lena to get a few hours of adventure reading in, or else she would get grumpy. Her friends had always teased her about that. Lena grinned and rubbed her hands together. She'd best get started.

After she had read through the first few chapters, Lena glanced at her watch and decided that it was time to head home. She took one last glance outside of the large, ornate window and was shocked to see that the sky had clouded up since she last looked. The clouds were a dark, glowing purple color and it looked like a storm was brewing. Strange, it must be because of the warm weather, Lena thought.

She leaned down and picked up her school bag and keys, and then stretched before making her way to the front counter to check out her book. Lena was pleased, the book seemed to be good so far and Lena had decided that she would read more after she ate dinner at home. The weather was looking bad, and she wanted to make it back to her house before a storm broke out.

As she walked out of the library, Lena was immediately pelted by heavy winds. Causing her hair to whip around her head, and for stray hairs to fall out of her loose ponytail. She clutched her new book tightly to her chest and got into the safety of her car as fast as she could, practically sprinting towards the vehicle.

After she was settled, Lena glanced into her car's mirror to see that her hair was in wild tangles. She brushed through the golden strands with her fingers, and then gave up after a few moments of failing to tame it. She turned on the radio and drove her car out of its parking spot and onto the road. It was busier in town than normal this afternoon. There were kids walking around on the sidewalks, stopping by at some local stores, eating pizza outside the local food shop. Lena was puzzled. People seemed to be oblivious of the oncoming storm, marked by the darkening clouds that were directly above them. But then again, they could just be enjoying the heat. It wasn't normally this warm around these parts anyways, and it wasn't raining.

Lena leaned on her break as she prepared to stop for a red light. But then saw that there was something standing on the side of the road. A person? After she was fully stopped, Lena chanced peeking out of her window again. She squinted her eyes together, searching for the dark figure that had caught her eye. Thanks to the dimming light of day, it was rather hard to pick out the dark shape from before, but after a moment she found them at last.

The figure's arms were crossed, with legs that were positioned in a powerful stance that Lena could see even from far away. The figure was distinctly male, and was wearing a long, black cloak with a hood that hid his face. Lena couldn't tell if he was young or old, but she could easily sense that he was staring directly at her.

Lena rapidly swung her head away from the dark figure and stared straight ahead, cheeks blushing bright red from being caught. But the man's gaze was _beyond _creepy. When she saw that the light had finally turned green, she pushed hard on the gas petal and moved away from the intersection as fast as she could. Gladly leaving that mysterious, creepy man far behind her.

The ride home had left Lena jumpy, and as a result, she took great care to double check the locks as soon as she got home. Afterwards, she followed her father's instructions to turn on the front porch light. Once she had finished with securing the house, she leaned on the table in the kitchen, and took a few deep, calming breaths.

Lena was always one to be realistic, but the idea that the cloaked man had seen her, frightened her more than she cared to admit. Maybe calling Elise or Eve would help, but them she remembered that Elise was probably still at the gym, and Eve was most likely driving home from her class. Lena tried to relax her tense shoulders as she walked around her kitchen, she could just tell her friends about the strange experience tomorrow at school.

Her dad had left a note with few bucks on the kitchen counter for her dinner, but after her weird afternoon, Lena wasn't feeling all that hungry. In fact, she felt a little sick to her stomach. Which was a surprising notion in itself due to the fact that Lena hardly ever got sick. She only did when she was especially run down from her schoolwork or if it was the dead of winter.

Lena pocketed the note and took a deep breath, deciding to take a short nap on the couch instead. Maybe she was just tired.

These past few nights she had been having strange dreams. They had seemed so realistic, but they were also relatively frightening, which had been setting her on edge. Every night she would awake inside her dream and find herself in this dark place where she would have to fight this tall, muscular shadow thing. The ground beneath her would shake and she would hear a voice commanding her to fight. But before she could even muster up the courage to raise her hand, the illusion would break, and she would sit up in her bed, gasping for breath.

Lena usually didn't take much stock into the meanings of her dreams, but these ones seemed to stand for something, considering their repetitive nature.

After what seemed like only seconds, Lena was jolted awake from her dreamless sleep by the loud rumbling of thunder. Lena peered outside the window and saw that the storm had only seemed to intensify since she had gotten home. She leaned back into the couch and rubbed her hands against her eyes, trying to wipe away any existing remnants of grogginess left over from her nap. But when she removed her hands away from her eyes, she saw that the lights had gone dark. The power must have given out. The wind was howling and it looked like the storm had intensified a few miles away, so it made sense that the power lines must have malfunctioned in some way.

Lena stood up from the couch. She thought that she'd get a flashlight from the kitchen, but instead of taking a step forward, the ground shook beneath her and she promptly fell on floor with a loud thump. She looked around nervously, she had never experienced an earthquake before, was that what that just was? Lena winced as she slowly got up from her spot on the ground she rubbed her sore bottom. That was definitely going to leave a bruise.

Lena hesitantly made her way through the house, careful to hold her arms out in front of her in order to avoid collisions, or to hold onto if there was to be another quake. "This day sure is strange." Lena thought aloud to herself.

Once she made it to the kitchen she moved her hand along to counter, looking for the flashlight she knew was hidden behind the phone book. But she was having trouble locating it, everything was so gosh darn dark!

This led to Lena being unusually grateful for the flash of lightning to appear outside the kitchen window, which encompassed the entire room with shining light. With an accomplished smirk, she grabbed the flashlight in her hands and turned it on. However, when she turned around, the beam of light from the flashlight fell on her kitchen island, and what she saw sitting on top of it wiped the smirk right off her face. She took stiff as a board as she processed what she was seeing a few feet in front of her. Beads of sweat broke out on the back of her neck while the hand holding onto the flashlight started to shake. Her green eyes widened in shock; she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

A pair of luminous, yellow eyes was only an arm's length away from where she was standing. Its body was made of dark shadow, and it bobbed back and forth, seemingly unable to stand still. She realized that she had seen this creature before… inside of her dreams.

After Lena realized what this abnormal creature was, she ran straight out of the kitchen. And she was lucky she had moved when she did because the creature had just been about to leap off the counter towards where she had just been standing. She whipped her head back to see if it had followed her, and widened her eyes to see it was only a few feet behind her. She pushed herself into a faster sprint down the hallway, thinking that if she made her way outside, maybe she could lock it inside the house.

Once she reached the front porch she turned and harshly slammed the door shut behind her. Afterwards, she closed her eyes, taking a few heavy breaths, trying to calm down her breathing.

But when she opened them, she was staring directly into the two hair-raising, yellow eyes from before. She had little time to react before it attacked her. She lifted her arms to cover her face, thinking that this was the end. But when she felt no impact, she hesitantly lifted one eyelid open to see what had happened to the shadow monster.

It had disappeared. Lena glanced curiously around the front porch, where had it gone? There was no way it had just vanished. It was just then that Lena noticed that her neighborhood street looked absolutely deserted. Usually, there were families walking with their younger children, and her next-door neighbor was known to play basketball even during a windstorm like this, but where had they all gone? She appeared to be alone. The hair on her arms stood on end. Something was not right, not right _at all_.

The sky was a deep purple color. Flashes of lightning coursed through the sky, but there really wasn't much thunder. Lena crouched down on her knees and wrapped her arms around them, resting her head on top. The wind was tousling her hair, and she could feel herself shivering, despite the unnatural temperature of the night. She wanted her dad, her mom, Elise, and Genevieve. She didn't want to be alone.

Lena considered the idea that she was going crazy. There was no way any sane person could see these monsters or see a sky full of purple weather. But her thoughts were interrupted by a loud noise coming from a few feet in front of her. She glanced up and saw a hoard of those shadow creatures standing in the middle of the street. They were all facing her with those golden eyes. Lena swallowed what moisture was left in her mouth and stood up from her crouched position.

After a moment's pause, they all charged at her. Lena raised her hands to protect her self once more, and bravely held in a scream that was clawing to get out of her dry throat. However, a few seconds before the dark monsters reached her, Lena felt something in her hand. She could feel that it was a little heavy, but surprisingly, it fit perfectly in her one hand. And with this new object in her grasp, she felt compelled to lash out at the little monsters when they came into reach.

Without looking, she reached forward with a slashing movement and felt the impact of one hit whatever object was in her hand. It was a satisfying hit, and Lena grinned to herself despite her fear. With a new surge of confidence, she took a glance to see what had hit the shadow. In her hand was a giant key- no- a sword that was _shaped _like a giant key. It was dark maroon with cream and white accents in the shapes of lightning bolts around the shaft. There was also a yellow dangling keychain in the shape of a lightning bolt. Lena was thrilled. She could defend herself now.

Lena moved her legs into an offensive stance, and held out her sword confidently. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she took in the monsters that gathered a few feet out in front of her. She was ready.

Without a moment's pause, the other monsters that hadn't attacked her on the first wave, moved toward her. Since her eyes had been closed before, she hadn't even noticed how they had moved. Their legs were rather small and didn't seem to be all that capable of tearing towards her at top speed. But now she understood. With a slight shiver, Lena finally understood that these monsters had instead sunken into the ground and moved along the earth in the manner of an actual shadow. Luckily she didn't have to bang her new sword on the ground because when they got too close to her they popped out of the ground to attack. And with a wide swing of her large key thing, she watched as it disappeared into a dark mist that faded into the roaring wind. She continued her assault for what felt like hours until they all seemed to be gone.

Falling to her knees from exhaustion, she clamped her hand to her opposite shoulder and clenched her teeth to hold in a moan from the pain. One had landed a hit on her when she was acting too confident. In the back of her mind, she realized she deserved it. She hadn't been acting cautious enough.

A loud clapping noise startled her and caused her to look up. She reached her unoccupied had forward to hold onto her new sword incase she was in any danger. But in the dark, it was hard to locate where the clapping sound was coming from. That was, until a flash of lightning illuminated her street.

Standing in the grass, a fair distance away from where Lena was kneeling was a young man. _And it was the man from earlier that day_.

He wore the same dark cloak that covered his face, but even now through the dark, Lena could see a wide smirk planted on his mouth where the hood didn't cover his lower face.

When he stopped clapping, he lifted his chin up, and Lena caught his glance. He had deep, golden eyes that reminded her of those monsters that had attacked her from before. Lena's hands began to shake. She was afraid.

"What an excellent show." He said. The man took a few stepped forward, and Lena stumbled into a standing position and took a few steps back.

"Oh," He said, disappointed by her response, "you must be a little shaken up. I guess that's understandable."

"Who- who are you?" Lena asked.

The man seemed to be rather amused by her question, "Me? I am of little importance, you on the other hand. You are of the greatest importance."

He stretched out one of his hands to his side and a swirl of dark purple and black appeared in the shape of a circle. Lena assumed it was a portal of some sort. Maybe it was how this mysterious man had gotten here.

Because of Lena's lack of response, he spoke again, "Come with me."

Lena clenched harder at her injured shoulder. "No." She countered.

The man laughed. "I don't have all day, and as a matter of fact, neither do you. Your would is ending you know."

"I don't trust you." Lena said truthfully.

"Smart girl," The man muttered, "I guess I'll come back some other time. Maybe you'll have changed your mind." He waved a hand in farewell, "Good luck, Lena."

Lena reached out to the man with the hand that was tending to her shoulder, "Wait!"

He turned his head, eyebrows raised in perplexed look. Lena bit her lip before speaking. "What is happening? Why are we running out of time? And what were those shadows?"

The man seemed to consider all of her questions before answering, placing his hand underneath his chin to think of a proper response. When he was finished, he lowered his arms down at his side and replaced his thoughtful look with one of unshakable fortitude.

"I think that the most important question would be the one you haven't asked yet."

Lena scrunched her face in confusion. Causing the man let out an impatient sigh, and pointed at the sword in her hand.

"You should be asking why that key chose _you_."

And with a final mock salute as a farewell, he stepped into his swirling portal, leaving Lena sitting alone on the street.

After a while of staring into nothing, Lena felt herself letting go. Her green eyes watered and her shoulder throbbed. She tried to curl up into a ball on the ground, but the ground was starting to disappear. This was the end.

She was going to die alone in the middle of the street with tattered clothes and a giant key in her hand. Everything was getting darker and she felt as if she was sinking into the ground. After a few more seconds, her vision completely faded and she let out one last breath before losing all consciousness of the disappearing world around her.


End file.
